My Studies and Life at School or College
Daily life at school or college is the focus of this GCSE writing task: subjects, timetable, teachers, rules and extra-curricular activities, distinct from broader career planning. Examiners test whether a student can describe a typical school day and subjects in the present tense, narrate a specific school event or achievement in the perfect tense, and comment on how school life might change in the near future, while giving a justified opinion on an aspect of school life, using a subordinate clause, connectives and an impersonal structure, and keeping verb endings, adjective agreement and accents accurate.
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Method
- Underline exactly what each bullet requires (the school day, subjects and opinions, rules, a past event, extra-curricular activities) before planning sentences.
- Assign a tense per bullet: present tense for the routine (les cours commencent, j'étudie), perfect tense for a specific past school event (j'ai participé, j'ai gagné), and near future for an upcoming school event (je vais participer, l'école va organiser).
- Give an opinion on a subject, teacher or school rule using je trouve que or à mon avis plus parce que, e.g. 'à mon avis, il y a trop de devoirs parce que cela laisse peu de temps pour se reposer.'
- Add a subordinate clause with qui, que or où, e.g. 'j'ai un club de théâtre où je peux m'exprimer.'
- Vary connectives (mais, donc, cependant, en plus, par contre) and avoid repeating the same opinion verb across the answer.
- Include an impersonal structure such as il faut plus an infinitive or il est nécessaire de plus an infinitive to comment on school rules or study habits.
- Check present-tense verb endings on -er/-ir/-re verbs, agreement of any adjectives describing subjects or teachers (intéressant/intéressante), and accents on words like élève, récréation and réussite before the final draft.
Worked example
Write about your life at school in French. Mention: what a normal day at school is like for you; your opinion on the subjects you study; an extra-curricular activity you take part in; something you achieved at school recently. Write approximately 40 words.
- Plan: bullet 1 = present tense with time expressions; bullet 2 = present tense with opinion and justification; bullet 3 = present tense naming a club or activity; bullet 4 = perfect tense.
- Build bullet 1: 'D'habitude, mes cours commencent à neuf heures et je rentre chez moi vers seize heures.' - present tense with time markers.
- Build bullet 2: 'Je trouve les langues intéressantes, mais je n'aime pas beaucoup la chimie parce que c'est trop difficile.' - opinion, contrast connective mais, justification.
- Build bullet 3: 'Je fais partie du club de théâtre, qui se réunit tous les mardis après les cours.' - subordinate clause with qui.
- Build bullet 4: 'La semaine dernière, j'ai obtenu une bonne note à mon contrôle d'espagnol, ce qui m'a fait très plaisir.' - perfect tense, subordinate clause with ce qui.
- Check accuracy: réunit and obtenu keep their accents, chimie and théâtre are spelled correctly, and the invariable expression fait plaisir avoids any awkward gender agreement before the final version.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Conjugate 'commencer' in the present tense for 'les cours' (ils form).Show answer
Answer: les cours commencent.
Q2Translate into French: 'I am part of the football club.'Show answer
Answer: Je fais partie du club de foot.
Q3Give one French word for 'break time' (at school).Show answer
Answer: la récréation.
Q4Fill the gap: 'La semaine dernière, j' ___ (obtenir) une bonne note en histoire.'Show answer
Answer: ai obtenu - perfect tense with avoir.
Q5Give a connective meaning 'in addition/besides'.Show answer
Answer: en plus (or de plus).
Q6Correct the error: 'Mon ecole a un grand bibliotheque.'Show answer
Answer: Mon école a une grande bibliothèque - ecole needs an accent, and bibliotheque is feminine so it takes une and grande.
Q7Write one sentence with an opinion on wearing school uniform, using a justification.Show answer
Answer: Je pense que porter un uniforme est une bonne idée parce que cela évite les inégalités entre élèves.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about your school life in French. Mention: what a typical school day involves; your opinion on one subject you study; a club or extra-curricular activity you do; something good that happened at school recently. Write approximately 40 words in French.
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Write an article for your school newsletter about school life. Mention: a description of your school and a typical school day; your opinion on the subjects you study and the teaching methods used; a school rule you agree or disagree with, and why; an extra-curricular activity or event you have taken part in recently; how you think school life could be improved in the future. Write approximately 90 words in French.
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the my studies and life at school or college worksheet pack - 9 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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